--- a/cover.html Mon Oct 10 20:58:01 2016 +0200
+++ b/cover.html Tue Oct 11 11:47:40 2016 +0200
@@ -70,17 +70,20 @@
<a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/">most recent operative Process Document</a> announced to the Membership.</p>
<p>This document is developed by the Advisory Board's Process Task Force working within the
- <a href="https://www.w3.org/community/w3process/">Revising W3C Process Community Group</a> (which anyone may join).
- This is the 9 October 2016 Editor's draft for the proposed next version of the W3C Process Document. This document is based on
- the <a href="http://www.w3.org/2015/Process-20150901/">1 September 2015 Process Document</a>, which is the currently
- operative W3C Process.</p>
+ <a href="https://www.w3.org/community/w3process/">Revising W3C Process Community Group</a> (which anyone can join).
+ This is the 11 October 2016 Editor's draft for the proposed next version of the W3C Process Document. This document is
+ based on the <a href="http://www.w3.org/2015/Process-20150901/">1 September 2015 Process Document</a>, which is the
+ currently operative W3C Process.</p>
<p>This draft is proposed to the W3C Advisory Board, for approval to request formal Advisory Committee review on whether
to adopt this as the new operative Process document.</p>
<p>Further revision is expected to take place in a new version of the Process as required.</p>
- <p>A <a href="#changes">history of changes</a> since the 1 September 2015 Process Document is provided. A log of <a href="https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/AB/">all changes in diff format</a> is available, as is an <a href="https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/AB/raw-file/default/161009-050901-diff.html">"HTML diff-marked" comparison</a> to the 1 September document</a>.</p>
+ <p>A <a href="#changes">history of changes</a> since the 1 September 2015 Process Document is provided. A log of
+ <a href="https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/AB/">all changes in diff format</a> is available, as is an
+ <a href="https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/AB/raw-file/default/161011-150901-diff.html">"HTML diff-marked" comparison</a>
+ to the 1 September document</a>.</p>
<p>Comment is invited on the draft. Please send comments to
<a href="mailto:public-w3process@w3.org">public-w3process@w3.org</a>
@@ -89,24 +92,31 @@
<a href="https://www.w3.org/community/w3process/track/">Public Issue Tracker</a> is available online. </p>
<h2 class="notoc" id="pp">Relation of Process Document to Patent Policy</h2>
+
<p>W3C Members' attention is called to the fact that provisions of the Process Document are binding on Members per the
<a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Agreement/Member-Agreement">Membership Agreement</a>
[<a href="#ref-member-agreement">PUB6</a>]. The Patent Policy
<a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy">W3C Patent Policy</a> [<a href="#ref-patentpolicy">PUB33</a>]
is incorporated by normative reference as a part of the Process Document, and is thus equally binding.</p>
+
<p>The Patent Policy places additional obligations on Members, Team, and other participants in W3C.
The Process Document does not restate those requirements but includes references to them.
- The Process Document and Patent Policy have been designed so that they may evolve independently.</p>
+ The Process Document and Patent Policy have been designed to allow them to evolve independently.</p>
+
<p>In the Process Document, the term "participant" refers to an individual, not an organization.</p>
+
<h2 class=".notoc">Conformance and specialized terms</h2>
+
<p>The terms <em class="rfc2119">must</em>, <em class="rfc2119">must not</em>, <em class="rfc2119">should</em>,
<em class="rfc2119">should not</em>, <em class="rfc2119">required</em>, and <em class="rfc2119">may</em> are used
in accordance with <a href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119.txt">RFC 2119</a> [<a href="#ref-RFC2119">RFC2119</a>].
The term <dfn><em class="rfc2119">not required</em></dfn> is equivalent to the term
<em class="rfc2119">may</em> as defined in [<a href="#ref-RFC2119">RFC2119</a>].</p>
+
<p>Some terms have been capitalized in this document (and in other W3C materials) to indicate that they are entities
- with special relevance to the W3C Process. These terms are defined herein, and readers should be aware that the
- ordinary (English) definitions are incomplete for purposes of understanding this document.</p>
+ with special relevance to the W3C Process. These terms are defined within this document, and readers are reminded that the
+ ordinary English definitions are insufficient for the purpose of understanding this document.</p>
+
<div class="toc" role="navigation">
<h2 class="notoc" id="toc">Table of Contents</h2>
<div class="noprint">
@@ -262,7 +272,7 @@
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#Note">6.8 Publishing a Working Group or Interest Group Note</a></li>
- <li><a href="#rec-rescind">6.9 Rescinding a W3C Recommendation</a></li>
+ <li><a href="#rec-rescind">6.9 Obsoleting or Rescinding a W3C Recommendation</a></li>
<li><a href="#further-reading">Further reading</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
@@ -395,6 +405,7 @@
[<a href="#ref-member-agreement">PUB6</a>]. The <a href="#Team">Team</a> <em class="rfc2119">must</em> ensure that
Member participation agreements remain <a href="#Team-only">Team-only</a> and that no Member receives
preferential treatment within W3C.</p>
+
<p id="IndividualParticipation">W3C does not have a class of membership tailored to, or priced for individuals.
However, an individual <em class="rfc2119">may</em> join W3C as an Affiliate Member. In this case the same
restrictions pertaining to <a href="#MemberRelated">related Members</a> apply when the individual also
@@ -423,10 +434,10 @@
</ul>
<p>The rights and benefits of W3C membership are contingent upon conformance to the processes described in this document.
- The vast majority of W3C Members faithfully follow the spirit as well as the letter of these processes. When serious and/or
- repeated violations do occur, and repeated attempts to address these violations have not resolved the situation, the
- Director <em class="rfc2119">may</em> take disciplinary action. Arbitration in the case of further disagreement is governed
- by paragraph 19 of the Membership Agreement. Refer to the
+ The vast majority of W3C Members faithfully follow the spirit as well as the letter of these processes. When
+ serious and/or repeated violations do occur, and repeated attempts to address these violations have not
+ resolved the situation, the Director <em class="rfc2119">may</em> take disciplinary action.
+ Arbitration in the case of further disagreement is governed by paragraph 19 of the Membership Agreement. Refer to the
<a href="https://www.w3.org/2002/09/discipline">Guidelines for Disciplinary Action</a>
[<a href="#ref-discipline-gl">MEM14</a>].</p>
@@ -452,10 +463,10 @@
apply. Furthermore, these individuals <em class="rfc2119">must</em> represent the broad interests of the
W3C Member organization and not the particular interests of their employers.</p>
- <p>For Member Consortia that have organizations as Members, all such designated representatives must be an
- official representative of the Member organization (i.e. a Committee or Task Force Chairperson) and
- <em class="rfc2119">must</em> disclose their employment affiliation when participating in W3C work. Provisions for
- <a href="#MemberRelated">related Members</a> apply.
+ <p>For Member Consortia that have organizations as Members, all such designated representatives
+ <em class="rfc2119">must</em> be an official representative of the Member organization
+ (e.g. a Committee or Task Force Chairperson) and <em class="rfc2119">must</em> disclose their employment affiliation
+ when participating in W3C work. Provisions for <a href="#MemberRelated">related Members</a> apply.
Furthermore, these individuals <em class="rfc2119">must</em> represent the broad interests of the W3C Member organization
and not the particular interests of their employers.</p>
@@ -586,11 +597,14 @@
<p>The Advisory Board is <strong>not</strong> a board of directors and has no decision-making authority within W3C;
its role is strictly advisory.</p>
- <p>The Team <em class="rfc2119">must</em> make available a mailing list for the Advisory Board to use for its communication,
- confidential to the Advisory Board and Team.</p>
+
+ <p>The Team <em class="rfc2119">must</em> make available a mailing list for the Advisory Board to use for its
+ communication,confidential to the Advisory Board and Team.</p>
+
<p>The Advisory Board <em class="rfc2119">should</em> send a summary of each of its meetings to the Advisory Committee
and other group Chairs. The Advisory Board <em class="rfc2119">should</em> also report on its activities at each
<a href="#ACMeetings">Advisory Committee meeting</a>.</p>
+
<p>Details about the Advisory Board (e.g., the list of Advisory Board participants, mailing list information, and
summaries of Advisory Board meetings) are available at the
<a href="https://www.w3.org/2002/ab/">Advisory Board home page</a> [<a href="#ref-ab-home">PUB30</a>].</p>
@@ -599,8 +613,10 @@
<p>The Advisory Board consists of nine elected participants and a Chair. The Team appoints the Chair of the
<a href="#AB">Advisory Board</a>, who is generally the CEO.</p>
+
<p>The remaining nine Advisory Board participants are elected by the W3C Advisory Committee following the
<a href="#AB-TAG-elections">AB/TAG nomination and election process</a>.</p>
+
<p>With the exception of the Chair, the terms of all Advisory Board participants are for
<span class="time-interval">two years</span>. Terms are staggered so that each year, either four or five terms expire.
If an individual is elected to fill an incomplete term, that individual's term ends at the normal expiration date of
@@ -625,7 +641,9 @@
W3C Advisory Committee, Advisory Board, and Team. Please refer to the
<a href="https://www.w3.org/2004/10/27-tag">TAG charter</a> [<a href="#ref-tag-charter">PUB25</a>]
for more information about the background and scope of the TAG, and the expected qualifications of TAG participants.</p>
+
<p>The Team <em class="rfc2119">must</em> make available two mailing lists for the TAG:</p>
+
<ul>
<li>a public discussion (not just input) list for issues of Web architecture. The TAG will conduct its public business
on this list.</li>
@@ -640,9 +658,11 @@
<p>The TAG <em class="rfc2119">should</em> send a summary of each of its <a href="#GeneralMeetings">meetings</a> to the
Advisory Committee and other group Chairs. The TAG <em class="rfc2119">should</em> also report on its activities at each
<a href="#ACMeetings">Advisory Committee meeting</a>.</p>
+
<p>When the TAG votes to resolve an issue, each TAG participant (whether appointed, elected, or the Chair) has one vote;
see also the section on <a href="https://www.w3.org/2004/10/27-tag#Voting">voting in the TAG charter</a>
[<a href="#ref-tag-charter">PUB25</a>] and the general section on <a href="#Votes">votes</a> in this Process Document.</p>
+
<p>Details about the TAG (e.g., the list of TAG participants, mailing list information, and summaries of TAG meetings)
are available at the <a href="https://www.w3.org/2001/tag/">TAG home page</a> [<a href="#ref-tag-home">PUB26</a>].</p>
@@ -650,10 +670,13 @@
<p>The TAG consists of eight elected or appointed participants and a Chair. The Team appoints the Chair of the TAG,
who is generally the <a href="#def-Director">Director</a>.</p>
+
<p>Three TAG participants are appointed by the Director. Appointees are <em class="rfc2119">not required</em> to be
on the W3C Team. The Director <em class="rfc2119">may</em> appoint <a href="#fellows">W3C Fellows</a> to the TAG.</p>
+
<p>The remaining five TAG participants are elected by the W3C Advisory Committee following the
<a href="#AB-TAG-elections">AB/TAG nomination and election process</a>.</p>
+
<p>With the exception of the Chair, the terms of all TAG participants are for <span class="time-interval">two years</span>.
Terms are staggered so that each year, either two or three elected terms, and either one or two appointed terms expire.
If an individual is appointed or elected to fill an incomplete term, that individual's term ends at the normal
@@ -666,6 +689,7 @@
for the Web, not just for any particular network, technology, vendor, or user. Advisory Board and TAG participants
are expected to participate regularly and fully. Advisory Board and TAG participants <em class="rfc2119">should</em>
attend <a href="#ACMeetings">Advisory Committee meetings</a>.</p>
+
<p>An individual participates on the Advisory Board or TAG from the moment the individual's term begins until the term ends
or the seat is <a href="#AB-TAG-vacated">vacated</a>. Although Advisory Board and TAG participants do not advocate for
the commercial interests of their employers, their participation does carry the responsibilities associated with
@@ -679,6 +703,7 @@
<p>Given the few seats available on the Advisory Board and the TAG, and in order to ensure that the diversity of
W3C Members is represented:</p>
+
<ul>
<li>A Member organization is permitted at most one participant on the TAG except when having more than one participant
is caused by a change of affiliation of an existing participant. At the completion of the next regularly scheduled
@@ -687,6 +712,7 @@
<li>A Member organization is permitted at most one participant on the AB.</li>
<li>An individual <em class="rfc2119">must not</em> participate on both the TAG and the AB.</li>
</ul>
+
<p>If, for whatever reason, these constraints are not satisfied (e.g., because an AB participant changes jobs),
one participant <em class="rfc2119">must</em> cease AB participation until the situation has been resolved. If after
<span class="time-interval">30 days</span> the situation has not been resolved, the Chair will declare one participant's
@@ -699,21 +725,21 @@
<p>The Advisory Board and a portion of the Technical Architecture Group are elected by the Advisory Committee, using a
Single Transferable Vote system. An election begins when the Team sends a Call for Nominations to the Advisory Committee.
Any Call for Nominations specifies the number of available seats, the deadline for nominations, details about the
- specific vote tabulation system selected by the Team for the election, and operational information. The Team may modify the
- tabulation system after the Call for Nominations but must stabilize it no later than the Call for Votes. The Director
- <em class="rfc2119">should</em> announce appointments no later than the start of a nomination period as part of the Call
- for Nominations.</p>
+ specific vote tabulation system selected by the Team for the election, and operational information. The Team
+ <em class="rfc2119">may</em> modify the tabulation system after the Call for Nominations but
+ <em class="rfc2119">must</em> stabilize it no later than the Call for Votes. The Director <em class="rfc2119">should</em>
+ announce appointments no later than the start of a nomination period as part of the Call for Nominations.</p>
<p>Each Member (or group of <a href="#MemberRelated">related Members</a>) <em class="rfc2119">may</em> nominate one
- individual. A nomination <em class="rfc2119">must</em> be made with the consent of the nominee. In order for an individual
- to be nominated as a Member representative, the individual <em class="rfc2119">must</em> qualify for
+ individual. A nomination <em class="rfc2119">must</em> be made with the consent of the nominee. In order for
+ an individual to be nominated as a Member representative, the individual <em class="rfc2119">must</em> qualify for
<a href="#member-rep">Member representation</a> and the Member's Advisory Committee representative
<em class="rfc2119">must</em> include in the nomination the (same)
<a href="#member-rep-info">information required for a Member representative in a Working Group</a>. In order for an
individual to be nominated as an Invited Expert, the individual <em class="rfc2119">must</em> provide the (same)
<a href="#inv-expert-info">information required for an Invited Expert in a Working Group</a> and the nominating
- Advisory Committee representative <em class="rfc2119">must</em> include that information in the nomination. In order for an
- individual to be nominated as a Team representative, the nominating Advisory Committee representative
+ Advisory Committee representative <em class="rfc2119">must</em> include that information in the nomination.
+ In order for an individual to be nominated as a Team representative, the nominating Advisory Committee representative
<em class="rfc2119">must</em> first secure approval from Team management. A nominee is
<em class="rfc2119">not required</em> to be an employee of a Member organization, and <em class="rfc2119">may</em> be a
<a href="#fellows">W3C Fellow</a>. Each nomination <em class="rfc2119">should</em> include a few informative paragraphs
@@ -724,16 +750,16 @@
<ul>
<li>Equal to the number of available seats, those nominees are thereby elected. This situation constitutes a tie for the
purposes of assigning <a href="#short-term">short terms</a>.</li>
- <li>Less than the number of available seats, Calls for Nominations are issued until a sufficient number of people have been
- nominated. Those already nominated do not need to be renominated after a renewed call.</li>
- <li>Greater than the number of available seats, the Team issues a Call for Votes that includes the names of all candidates,
- the number of available seats, the deadline for votes, details about the vote tabulation system selected by the Team for
- the election, and operational information.</li>
+ <li>Less than the number of available seats, Calls for Nominations are issued until a sufficient number of people
+ have been nominated. Those already nominated do not need to be renominated after a renewed call.</li>
+ <li>Greater than the number of available seats, the Team issues a Call for Votes that includes the names of
+ all candidates, the number of available seats, the deadline for votes, details about the vote tabulation system
+ selected by the Team for the election, and operational information.</li>
</ul>
- <p>When there is a vote, each Member (or group of <a href="#MemberRelated">related Members</a>) <em class="rfc2119">may</em>
- submit one ballot that ranks candidates in the Member's preferred order. Once the deadline for votes has passed, the Team
- announces the results to the Advisory Committee. In case of a tie the
+ <p>When there is a vote, each Member (or group of <a href="#MemberRelated">related Members</a>)
+ <em class="rfc2119">may</em> submit one ballot that ranks candidates in the Member's preferred order. Once the deadline
+ for votes has passed, the Team announces the results to the Advisory Committee. In case of a tie the
<a href="#random">verifiable random selection procedure</a> described below will be used to fill the available seats.</p>
<p id="short-term">The shortest term is assigned to the elected candidate ranked lowest by the tabulation of votes, the
@@ -745,17 +771,21 @@
[<a href="#ref-election-howto">MEM15</a>] for more details.</p>
<h5 id="random">2.5.2.1 Verifiable Random Selection Procedure</h5>
+
<p>When it is necessary to use a verifiable random selection process (e.g., in an AB or TAG election, to "draw straws"
in case of a tie or to fill a short term), W3C uses the random and verifiable procedure defined in
<a href="http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2777.txt">RFC 2777</a> [<a href="#ref-RFC2777">RFC2777</a>]. The procedure orders
- an input list of names (listed in alphabetical order by family name unless otherwise specified) into a "result order."</p>
+ an input list of names (listed in alphabetical order by family name unless otherwise specified) into a
+ "result order."</p>
+
<p>W3C applies this procedure as follows:</p>
+
<ol>
<li>When N people have tied for M (less than N) seats. In this case, only the names of the N individuals who tied
are provided as input to the procedure. The M seats are assigned in result order.</li>
<li>After all elected individuals have been identified, when N people are eligible for M (less than N) short terms.
- In this case, only the names of those N individuals are provided as input to the procedure. The short terms are assigned
- in result order.</li>
+ In this case, only the names of those N individuals are provided as input to the procedure. The short terms are
+ assigned in result order.</li>
</ol>
<h4 id="AB-TAG-vacated">2.5.3 Advisory Board and Technical Architecture Group Vacated Seats</h4>
@@ -765,11 +795,14 @@
<li>the participant <a href="#resignation">resigns</a>, or</li>
<li>the Chair asks the participant to <a href="#resignation">resign</a>.</li>
</ul>
+
<p>When an Advisory Board or TAG participant changes affiliations, as long as
<a href="#AB-TAG-constraints">Advisory Board and TAG participation constraints</a> are respected, the individual
<em class="rfc2119">may</em> continue to participate until the next regularly scheduled election for that group.
Otherwise, the seat is vacated.</p>
+
<p>Vacated seats are filled according to this schedule:</p>
+
<ul>
<li>When an appointed TAG seat is vacated, the Director <em class="rfc2119">may</em> re-appoint someone immediately,
but no later than the next regularly scheduled election.</li>
@@ -781,9 +814,10 @@
<h2 id="Policies">3 General Policies for W3C Groups</h2>
- <p>This section describes general policies for W3C groups regarding participation, meeting requirements, and decision-making.
- These policies apply to <span id="participant">participants</span> in the following groups:
- <a href="#AC">Advisory Committee</a>, <a href="#ABParticipation">Advisory Board</a>, <a href="#tag-participation">TAG</a>,
+ <p>This section describes general policies for W3C groups regarding participation, meeting requirements, and
+ decision-making. These policies apply to <span id="participant">participants</span> in the following groups:
+ <a href="#AC">Advisory Committee</a>, <a href="#ABParticipation">Advisory Board</a>,
+ <a href="#tag-participation">TAG</a>,
<a href="#wgparticipant">Working Groups</a>, and <a href="#igparticipant">Interest Groups</a>.</p>
<h3 id="ParticipationCriteria">3.1 Individual Participation Criteria</h3>
@@ -828,13 +862,16 @@
<h4 id="member-rep">3.1.2 Individuals Representing a Member Organization</h4>
- <p>Generally, individuals representing a Member in an official capacity within W3C are employees of the Member organization.
+ <p>Generally, individuals representing a Member in an official capacity within W3C are employees of the
+ Member organization.
However, an Advisory Committee representative <em class="rfc2119">may</em> designate a non-employee to represent the
Member. Non-employee Member representatives <em class="rfc2119">must</em> disclose relevant affiliations to the Team and
to any group in which the individual participates.</p>
+
<p>In exceptional circumstances (e.g., situations that might jeopardize the progress of a group or create a
<a href="#coi">conflict of interest</a>), the <a href="#def-Director">Director</a> <em class="rfc2119">may</em>
decline to allow an individual designated by an Advisory Committee representative to participate in a group.</p>
+
<p>A group charter <em class="rfc2119">may</em> limit the number of individuals representing a W3C Member (or group of
<a href="#MemberRelated">related Members</a>).</p>
@@ -843,7 +880,9 @@
<p>W3C groups (including the <a href="#ACMeetings">Advisory Committee</a>, <a href="#AB">Advisory Board</a>,
<a href="#TAG">TAG</a>, and <a href="#GroupsWG">Working Groups</a>) <em class="rfc2119">should</em> observe the
meeting requirements in this section.</p>
+
<p>W3C distinguishes two types of meetings:</p>
+
<ol>
<li>A <dfn id="ftf-meeting">face-to-face meeting</dfn> is one where most of the attendees are expected to
participate in the same physical location.</li>
@@ -851,6 +890,7 @@
to participate from remote locations (e.g., by telephone, video conferencing, or
<abbr title="Internet Relay Chat">IRC</abbr>).</li>
</ol>
+
<p>A Chair <em class="rfc2119">may</em> invite an individual with a particular expertise to attend a meeting on
an exceptional basis. This person is a meeting guest, not a group <a href="#participant">participant</a>. Meeting guests
do not have <a href="#Votes">voting rights</a>. It is the responsibility of the Chair to ensure that all meeting guests
@@ -858,7 +898,9 @@
<p>Meeting announcements <em class="rfc2119">should</em> be sent to all appropriate group mailing lists, i.e., those most
relevant to the anticipated meeting participants.</p>
+
<p>The following table lists requirements for organizing a meeting:</p>
+
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
@@ -894,6 +936,7 @@
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
+
<p><sup>*</sup> To allow proper planning (e.g., travel arrangements), the Chair is responsible for giving sufficient
advance notice about the date and location of a meeting. Shorter notice for a meeting is allowed provided that there
are no objections from group participants.</p>
@@ -906,21 +949,25 @@
general public). Decisions <em class="rfc2119">may</em> be made during meetings (<a href="#ftf-meeting">face-to-face</a>
or <a href="#distributed-meeting">distributed</a>) as well as through email. <strong>Note:</strong> The Director, CEO,
and COO have the role of assessing consensus within the Advisory Committee.</p>
+
<p>The following terms are used in this document to describe the level of support for a decision among a set of eligible
individuals:</p>
<ol>
<li><dfn id="def-Consensus">Consensus</dfn>: A substantial number of individuals in the set support the decision and
- nobody in the set registers a <a href="#FormalObjection">Formal Objection</a>. Individuals in the set may abstain.
+ nobody in the set registers a <a href="#FormalObjection">Formal Objection</a>. Individuals in the set
+ <em class="rfc2119">may</em> abstain.
Abstention is either an explicit expression of no opinion or silence by an individual in the set.
<dfn id="def-Unanimity">Unanimity</dfn> is the particular case of consensus where all individuals in the set support
the decision (i.e., no individual in the set abstains).</li>
<li><dfn id="def-Dissent">Dissent</dfn>: At least one individual in the set registers a
<a href="#FormalObjection">Formal Objection</a>.</li>
</ol>
+
<p>By default, the set of individuals eligible to participate in a decision is the set of group participants. The
Process Document does not require a quorum for decisions (i.e., the minimal number of eligible participants required
to be present before the Chair can call a question). A charter <em class="rfc2119">may</em> include a
quorum requirement for consensus decisions.</p>
+
<p>Where unanimity is not possible, a group <em class="rfc2119">should</em> strive to make consensus decisions where
there is significant support and few abstentions. The Process Document does not require a particular percentage of
eligible participants to agree to a motion in order for a decision to be made. To avoid decisions where there is
@@ -935,7 +982,7 @@
<p>In some cases, even after careful consideration of all points of view, a group might find itself unable to reach
consensus. The Chair <em class="rfc2119">may</em> record a decision where there is dissent (i.e., there is at least one
- <a href="#FormalObjection">Formal Objection</a>) so that the group may make progress (for example, to produce a
+ <a href="#FormalObjection">Formal Objection</a>) so that the group can make progress (for example, to produce a
deliverable in a timely manner). Dissenters cannot stop a group's work simply by saying that they cannot live with a
decision. When the Chair believes that the Group has duly considered the legitimate concerns of dissenters as far as is
possible and reasonable, the group <em class="rfc2119">should</em> move on.</p>
@@ -946,7 +993,7 @@
<h4 id="WGArchiveMinorityViews">3.3.2 Recording and Reporting Formal Objections</h4>
- <p>In the W3C process, an individual may register a Formal Objection to a decision. A
+ <p>In the W3C process, an individual <em class="rfc2119">may</em> register a Formal Objection to a decision. A
<dfn id="FormalObjection">Formal Objection</dfn> to a group decision is one that the reviewer requests that the
Director consider as part of evaluating the related decision (e.g., in response to a
<a href="#rec-advance">request to advance</a> a technical report). <strong>Note:</strong> In this document, the
@@ -1086,8 +1133,8 @@
<p>While much information made available by W3C is public, <dfn id="Member-only">"Member-only" information</dfn>
is available to authorized parties only, including representatives of Member organizations,
<a href="#invited-expert-wg">Invited Experts</a>, the Advisory Board, the TAG, and the Team. For example, the
- <a href="#WGCharter">charter</a> of some Working Groups may specify a Member-only confidentiality level for
- group proceedings.</p>
+ <a href="#WGCharter">charter</a> of some Working Groups <em class="rfc2119">may</em> specify a
+ Member-only confidentiality level for group proceedings.</p>
<p id="Team-only">"Team-only" information is available to the Team and other authorized parties.</p>
<p>Those authorized to access Member-only and Team-only information:</p>
<ul>
@@ -1245,31 +1292,41 @@
<p>When the participation requirements exceed <a href="#ig-mail-only">Interest Group mailing list subscription</a>,
an individual is a Member representative in an Interest Group if all of the following conditions are satisfied:</p>
+
<ul>
<li>the Advisory Committee representative of the Member in question has designated the individual as an
Interest Group participant, and</li>
<li>the individual qualifies for <a href="#member-rep">Member representation</a>.</li>
</ul>
+
<p>To designate an individual as a Member representative in an Interest Group, the Advisory Committee representative
<em class="rfc2119">must</em> follow the instructions in the <a href="#cfp">Call for Participation</a> and charter.</p>
+
<p>Member participation in an Interest Group ceases under the same conditions as for a Working Group.</p>
+
<h5>5.2.1.3 <dfn id="invited-expert-wg">Invited Expert in a Working Group</dfn></h5>
+
<p>The Chair <em class="rfc2119">may</em> invite an individual with a particular expertise to participate in a
Working Group. This individual <em class="rfc2119">may</em> represent an organization in the group
(e.g., if acting as a liaison with another organization).</p>
+
<p>An individual is an Invited Expert in a Working Group if all of the following conditions are satisfied:</p>
+
<ul>
<li>the Chair has designated the individual as a group participant,</li>
<li>the Team Contact has agreed with the Chair's choice, and</li>
<li>the individual has provided the <a href="#inv-expert-info">information required of an Invited Expert</a> to
the Chair and Team Contact.</li>
</ul>
+
<p>To designate an individual as an Invited Expert in a Working Group, the Chair <em class="rfc2119">must</em>
inform the Team Contact and provide rationale for the choice. When the Chair and the Team Contact disagree about
a designation, the <a href="#def-Director">Director</a> determines whether the individual will be invited to
participate in the Working Group.</p>
+
<p><dfn id="inv-expert-info">To be able to participate in a Working Group as an Invited Expert</dfn>, an individual
<em class="rfc2119">must</em> do all of the following:</p>
+
<ul>
<li>identify the organization, if any, the individual represents as a participant in this group,</li>
<li>agree to the terms of the
@@ -1288,8 +1345,9 @@
is not a W3C Member, indicate whether that organization intends to join W3C. If the organization does not intend to
join W3C, indicate reasons the individual is aware of for this choice.</li>
</ul>
- <p>The Chair <em class="rfc2119">should not</em> designate as an Invited Expert in a Working Group an individual who is an
- employee of a W3C Member. The Chair <em class="rfc2119">must not</em> use Invited Expert status to circumvent
+
+ <p>The Chair <em class="rfc2119">should not</em> designate as an Invited Expert in a Working Group an individual
+ who is an employee of a W3C Member. The Chair <em class="rfc2119">must not</em> use Invited Expert status to circumvent
participation limits imposed by the <a href="#WGCharter">charter</a>.</p>
<p>An Invited Expert participates in a Working Group from the moment the individual joins the group until any of
the following occurs:</p>
@@ -1306,7 +1364,9 @@
<a href="#invited-expert-wg">Invited Expert in a Working Group</a>.</p>
<h5>5.2.1.5 <dfn id="team-rep-wg">Team Representative in a Working Group</dfn></h5>
+
<p>An individual is a Team representative in a Working Group when so designated by W3C management.</p>
+
<p>A Team representative participates in a Working Group from the moment the individual joins the group until any of
the following occurs:</p>
@@ -1343,15 +1403,16 @@
<p>The Director's Call for Review of a substantively modified charter <em class="rfc2119">must</em> highlight
important changes (e.g., regarding deliverables or resource allocation) and include rationale for the changes.</p>
- <p>Transition requests to First Public Working Draft or <a href="#last-call">Candidate Recommendation</a> will not normally
- be approved while a Working Group's charter is undergoing, or awaiting a Director's decision on, an
- Advisory Committee Review, until the Director issues a Call for Participation for the Working Group.</p>
+ <p>Transition requests to First Public Working Draft or <a href="#last-call">Candidate Recommendation</a>
+ will not normally be approved while a Working Group's charter is undergoing, or awaiting a Director's decision on, an
+ Advisory Committee Review, until the Director issues a Call for Participation for the Working Group.</p> @@@@
<h4>5.2.4 <dfn id="cfp">Call for Participation in a Working Group or Interest Group</dfn></h4>
- <p>After Advisory Committee review of a Working Group or Interest Group charter, the Director <em class="rfc2119">may</em>
- issue a Call for Participation to the Advisory Committee. Charters <em class="rfc2119">may</em> be amended based on
- review comments before the Director issues a Call for Participation. </p>
+ <p>After Advisory Committee review of a Working Group or Interest Group charter, the Director
+ <em class="rfc2119">may</em> issue a Call for Participation to the Advisory Committee. Charters
+ <em class="rfc2119">may</em> be amended based on review comments before the Director issues a
+ Call for Participation. </p>
<p>For a new group, this announcement officially creates the group. The announcement <em class="rfc2119">must</em>
include a reference to the <a href="#WGCharter">charter</a>, the name(s) of the group's
@@ -1366,14 +1427,16 @@
<h4>5.2.5 <dfn id="charter-extension">Working Group and Interest Group Charter Extension</dfn></h4>
- <p>To extend a Working Group or Interest Group charter with no other substantive modifications, the Director announces the
- extension to the Advisory Committee. The announcement <em class="rfc2119">must</em> indicate the new duration.
+ <p>To extend a Working Group or Interest Group charter with no other substantive modifications, the Director announces
+ the extension to the Advisory Committee. The announcement <em class="rfc2119">must</em> indicate the new duration.
The announcement <em class="rfc2119">must</em> also include rationale for the extension, a reference to the
<a href="#WGCharter">charter</a>, the name(s) of the group's <a href="#GeneralChairs">Chair(s)</a>,
the name of the <a href="#TeamContact">Team Contact</a>, and instructions for joining the group.</p>
<p>After a charter extension, Advisory Committee representatives and the Chair are <em class="rfc2119">not required</em>
- to re-designate <a href="#member-rep">Member representatives</a> and <a href="#invited-expert-wg">Invited Experts</a>.</p>
+ to re-designate <a href="#member-rep">Member representatives</a> and
+ <a href="#invited-expert-wg">Invited Experts</a>.</p>
+
<p>Advisory Committee representatives <em class="rfc2119">may</em> initiate an
<a href="#ACAppeal">Advisory Committee Appeal</a> against a Director's decision regarding the extension of a
Working Group or Interest Group charter.</p>
@@ -1389,7 +1452,7 @@
<li>The nature of any deliverables (technical reports, reviews of the deliverables of other groups, or software);</li>
<li>Expected milestone dates where available. <strong>Note</strong>: A charter is <em class="rfc2119">not required</em>
to include schedules for review of other group's deliverables;</li>
- <li>The process for the group participants to approve the release of deliverables (including intermediate results);</li>
+ <li>The process for the group to approve the release of deliverables (including intermediate results);</li>
<li>Any dependencies by groups within or outside of W3C on the deliverables of this group. For any dependencies,
the charter <em class="rfc2119">must</em> specify the mechanisms for communication about the deliverables;</li>
<li>Any dependencies of this group on other groups within or outside of W3C. Such dependencies include interactions
@@ -1415,8 +1478,8 @@
and <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy#sec-Obligations">section 3</a> of the
<a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy">W3C Patent Policy</a> [<a href="#ref-patentpolicy">PUB33</a>].</p>
- <p>For every Recommendation Track deliverable that continues work on a Working Draft (WD) published under any other Charter
- (including a predecessor group of the same name), for which there is an existing Reference Draft or
+ <p>For every Recommendation Track deliverable that continues work on a Working Draft (WD) published under any other
+ Charter (including a predecessor group of the same name), for which there is an existing Reference Draft or
Candidate Recommendation, the description of that deliverable in the proposed charter of the adopting Working Group
<em class="rfc2119">must</em> provide the following information:</p>
@@ -1433,10 +1496,11 @@
"most recent Reference Draft", "most recent Candidate Recommendation", and "Other Charter", respectively.</p>
<p>The <dfn>Reference Draft</dfn> is the latest Working Draft published within 90 days of the
- <a href="#first-wd">First Public Working Draft</a> or if no Public Working Draft has been published within 90 days of the
- First Public Working Draft it is that First Public Working Draft. It is the specific draft against which exclusions are
- made, as per <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy/#sec-exclusion-with">section 4.1</a> of the
- <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy">W3C Patent Policy</a> [<a href="#ref-patentpolicy">PUB33</a>].</p>
+ <a href="#first-wd">First Public Working Draft</a> or if no Public Working Draft has been published within
+ 90 days of the First Public Working Draft it is that First Public Working Draft. It is the specific draft against which
+ exclusions are made, as per <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy/#sec-exclusion-with">section 4.1</a>
+ of the <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy">W3C Patent Policy</a>
+ [<a href="#ref-patentpolicy">PUB33</a>].</p>
<p>The Adopted Working Draft and the most recent Reference Draft or <a href="#last-call">Candidate Recommendation</a>
<em class="rfc2119">must</em> each be adopted in their entirety and without any modification. The proposed charter
@@ -1444,8 +1508,9 @@
is deemed to be the Reference Draft or Candidate Recommendation of the Adopted Working Draft, and the date when the
Exclusion Opportunity that arose on publishing the First Public Working Draft or Candidate Recommendation
began and ended. As per <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy/#sec-join">section 4.3</a> of
- the <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy">W3C Patent Policy</a> [<a href="#ref-patentpolicy">PUB33</a>],
- this potentially means that exclusions can only be made immediately on joining a Working Group.</p>
+ the <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy">W3C Patent Policy</a>
+ [<a href="#ref-patentpolicy">PUB33</a>], this potentially means that exclusions can only be made
+ immediately on joining a Working Group.</p>
<p id="ig-charter-participation">An Interest Group charter <em class="rfc2119">may</em> include provisions regarding
participation, including specifying that the <dfn id="ig-mail-only">only requirement for participation (by anyone) in
@@ -1457,8 +1522,8 @@
<p>A charter <em class="rfc2119">may</em> include provisions other than those required by this document. The charter
<em class="rfc2119">should</em> highlight whether additional provisions impose constraints beyond those of the W3C
- Process Document (e.g., limits on the number of individuals in a Working Group who represent the same Member organization
- or group of <a href="#MemberRelated">related Members</a>).</p>
+ Process Document (e.g., limits on the number of individuals in a Working Group who represent the same
+ Member organization or group of <a href="#MemberRelated">related Members</a>).</p>
<h4>5.2.7 <dfn id="GeneralTermination">Working Group and Interest Group Closure</dfn></h4>
@@ -1466,14 +1531,18 @@
an <a href="#ACAppeal">Advisory Committee Appeal</a> initiated by Advisory Committee representatives,
<em class="rfc2119">may</em> decide to close a group prior to the date specified in the charter in
any of the following circumstances:</p>
+
<ul>
- <li>There are insufficient resources to produce chartered deliverables or to maintain the group, according to priorities
- established within W3C.</li>
+ <li>There are insufficient resources to produce chartered deliverables or to maintain the group, according to
+ priorities established within W3C.</li>
<li>The group produces chartered deliverables ahead of schedule.</li>
</ul>
+
<p>The Director closes a Working Group or Interest Group by announcement to the Advisory Committee.</p>
+
<p>Closing a Working Group has implications with respect to the
- <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy">W3C Patent Policy</a> [<a href="#ref-patentpolicy">PUB33</a>].</p>
+ <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy">W3C Patent Policy</a>
+ [<a href="#ref-patentpolicy">PUB33</a>].</p>
</section>
<h2 id="Reports">6 W3C Technical Report Development Process</h2>
@@ -1481,6 +1550,7 @@
<p>The W3C technical report development process is the set of steps and requirements followed by W3C
<a href="#GroupsWG">Working Groups</a> to standardize Web technology. The W3C technical report development process
is designed to:</p>
+
<ul>
<li>support multiple specification development methodologies</li>
<li>maximize
@@ -1491,6 +1561,7 @@
<li>facilitate royalty-free, interoperable implementations of Web Standards, and</li>
<li>earn endorsement by W3C and the broader community.</li>
</ul>
+
<p>See also the licensing goals for W3C Recommendations in
<a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy#sec-Licensing">section 2</a> of the
<a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy">W3C Patent Policy</a> [<a href="#ref-patentpolicy">PUB33</a>].
@@ -1500,7 +1571,9 @@
<p>Please note that <dfn>publishing</dfn> as used in this document refers to producing a version which is listed as a
W3C Technical Report on its <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/">Technical Reports page https://www.w3.org/TR</a>.</p>
+
<p>This chapter describes the formal requirements for publishing and maintaining a W3C Recommendation or Note.</p>
+
<p>Typically a series of Working Drafts are published, each of which refines a document under development to complete
the scope of work envisioned by a Working Group's charter. For a technical specification, once review suggests the
Working Group has met their requirements satisfactorily for a new standard, there is a
@@ -1509,18 +1582,22 @@
implementation experience to demonstrate that the specification works in practice. The next phase is a
Proposed Recommendation, to finalize the review of W3C Members. If the Director determines that W3C Member review
supports a specification becoming a standard, W3C publishes it as a Recommendation.</p>
- <p>Groups may also publish documents as W3C Notes, typically either to document information other than technical
+
+ <p>Groups can also publish documents as W3C Notes, typically either to document information other than technical
specifications, such as use cases motivating a specification and best practices for its use, or to clarify the
status of work that is abandoned. </p>
+
<p>Some W3C Notes are developed through successive Working Drafts, with an expectation that they will become Notes,
while others are simply published. There are few formal requirements to publish a document as a W3C Note, and they
have no standing as a recommendation of W3C but are simply documents preserved for historical reference.</p>
- <p>Individual Working Groups and Interest Groups may adopt additional processes for developing publications, so long as
- they do not conflict with the requirements in this chapter.</p>
+
+ <p>Individual Working Groups and Interest Groups <em class="rfc2119">should</em> adopt additional processes for
+ developing publications, so long as they do not conflict with the requirements in this chapter.</p>
<h4 id="recs-and-notes">6.1.1 Recommendations and Notes</h4>
<p>W3C follows these steps when advancing a technical report to Recommendation.</p>
+
<ol>
<li>Publication of the <a href="#first-wd">First Public Working Draft</a>,</li>
<li>Publication of zero or more revised <a href="#revised-wd">Public Working Drafts</a>.</li>
@@ -1660,7 +1737,9 @@
</svg>
</p>
+
<p>W3C <em class="rfc2119">may</em> <a href="#tr-end">end work on a technical report</a> at any time.</p>
+
<p>The Director <em class="rfc2119">may</em> decline a request to advance in maturity level, requiring a Working Group
to conduct further work, and <em class="rfc2119">may</em> require the specification to return to a lower
<a href="#maturity-levels">maturity level</a>. The Director <em class="rfc2119">must</em> inform the
@@ -1673,10 +1752,10 @@
<dt id="RecsWD">Working Draft (WD)</dt>
<dd>A Working Draft is a document that W3C has published for review by the community, including W3C Members, the public,
and other technical organizations. Some, but not all, Working Drafts are meant to advance to Recommendation; see the
- <a href="#DocumentStatus">document status section</a> of a Working Draft for the group's expectations. Any Working Draft
- not, or no longer, intended to advance to Recommendation <em class="rfc2119">should</em> be published as a
- Working Group Note. Working Drafts do not necessarily represent a consensus of the Working Group, and do not imply
- any endorsement by W3C or its members beyond agreement to work on a general area of technology.</dd>
+ <a href="#DocumentStatus">document status section</a> of a Working Draft for the group's expectations. Any
+ Working Draft not, or no longer, intended to advance to Recommendation <em class="rfc2119">should</em> be
+ published as a Working Group Note. Working Drafts do not necessarily represent a consensus of the Working Group,
+ and do not imply any endorsement by W3C or its members beyond agreement to work on a general area of technology.</dd>
<dt id="RecsCR">Candidate Recommendation (CR)</dt>
<dd class="changed">A Candidate Recommendation is a document that satisfies the Working Group's technical requirements,
and has already received wide review. W3C publishes a Candidate Recommendation to
@@ -1686,12 +1765,12 @@
<li>begin formal review by the Advisory Committee, who <em class="rfc2119">may</em> recommend that the document
be published as a W3C Recommendation, returned to the Working Group for further work, or abandoned.</li>
<li>Provide an exclusion opportunity per the
- <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy">W3C Patent Policy</a> [<a href="#ref-patentpolicy">PUB33</a>].
- A Candidate Recommendation under this process corresponds to the "Last Call Working Draft" discussed in the
- Patent Policy.</li>
+ <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy">W3C Patent Policy</a>
+ [<a href="#ref-patentpolicy">PUB33</a>]. <strong>Note</strong>: A Candidate Recommendation under this process
+ corresponds to the "Last Call Working Draft" discussed in the Patent Policy.</li>
</ul>
</dd>
- <dd><strong>Note:</strong> Candidate Recommendations are expected to be acceptable as Recommendations. Announcement of a
+ <dd><strong>Note</strong>: Candidate Recommendations are expected to be acceptable as Recommendations. Announcement of a
different next step <em class="rfc2119">should</em> include the reasons why the change in expectations comes at so late
a stage.</dd>
<dt id="RecsPR">Proposed Recommendation</dt>
@@ -1700,10 +1779,11 @@
Candidate Recommendation. Substantive changes <em class="rfc2119">must</em> not be made to a Proposed Recommendation
except by publishing a new Working Draft or Candidate Recommendation.</dd>
<dt id="RecsW3C">W3C Recommendation (REC)</dt>
- <dd>A W3C Recommendation is a specification or set of guidelines or requirements that, after extensive consensus-building,
- has received the endorsement of W3C Members and the Director. W3C recommends the wide deployment of its Recommendations
- as standards for the Web. The W3C Royalty-Free IPR licenses granted under the Patent Policy apply to
- W3C Recommendations.</dd>
+ <dd>A W3C Recommendation is a specification or set of guidelines or requirements that, after extensive
+ consensus-building, has received the endorsement of W3C Members and the Director. W3C recommends the wide deployment
+ of its Recommendations as standards for the Web. The W3C Royalty-Free IPR licenses granted under the
+ <a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy">W3C Patent Policy</a> [<a href="#ref-patentpolicy">PUB33</a>]
+ apply to W3C Recommendations.</dd>
<dt id="RecsObs">Obsolete Recommendation</dt>
<dd>An Obsolete Recommendation is a specification that W3C does not believe has sufficient market relevance to continue
recommending that the community implement it, but does not consider that there are fundamental problems that require the
@@ -1725,34 +1805,38 @@
<p>Working Groups and Interest Groups <em class="rfc2119">may</em> make available "Editor's drafts". Editor's drafts have
no official standing whatsoever, and do not necessarily imply consensus of a Working Group or Interest Group, nor are
their contents endorsed in any way by W3C.</p>
+
<h3 id="requirements-and-definitions">6.2 General requirements and definitions</h3>
+
<p>Please note that <dfn>publishing</dfn> as used in this document refers to producing a version which is listed as a
W3C Technical Report on its <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/">Technical Reports page https://www.w3.org/TR</a>
[<a href="#ref-doc-list">PUB11</a>].</p>
<h4 id="general-requirements">6.2.1 General requirements for Technical Reports</h4>
- <p>Every document published as part of the technical report development process <em class="rfc2119 old">must</em> be a public
- document. The <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/">index of W3C technical reports</a> [<a href="#ref-doc-list">PUB11</a>] is
- available at the W3C Web site. W3C strives to make archival documents indefinitely available at their original address in
- their original form.</p>
+ <p>Every document published as part of the technical report development process <em class="rfc2119 old">must</em> be
+ a public document. The <a href="https://www.w3.org/TR/">index of W3C technical reports</a>
+ [<a href="#ref-doc-list">PUB11</a>] is available at the W3C Web site. W3C strives to make archival documents
+ indefinitely available at their original address in their original form.</p>
+
<p>Every document published as part of the technical report development process <em class="rfc2119 old">must</em> clearly
indicate its <a href="#maturity-levels">maturity level</a>, and <em id="DocumentStatus" class="rfc2119">must</em>
include information about the status of the document. This status information</p>
+
<ul>
<li><em class="rfc2119">must</em> be unique each time a specification is published,</li>
<li><em class="rfc2119">must</em> state which Working Group developed the specification, </li>
<li><em class="rfc2119">must</em> state how to send comments or file bugs, and where these are recorded, </li>
<li><em class="rfc2119">must</em> include expectations about next steps,</li>
- <li><em class="rfc2119">should</em> explain how the technology relates to existing international standards and related work
- inside or outside W3C, and</li>
+ <li><em class="rfc2119">should</em> explain how the technology relates to existing international standards and
+ related work inside or outside W3C, and</li>
<li><em class="rfc2119">should</em> explain or link to an explanation of significant changes from the previous version.</li>
</ul>
<p>Every Technical Report published as part of the Technical Report development process is edited by one or more editors
appointed by a Group Chair. It is the responsibility of these editors to ensure that the decisions of the Group are
- correctly reflected in subsequent drafts of the technical report. An editor <em class="rfc2119">must</em> be a participant,
- per <a href="#group-participation">section 5.2.1</a> in the Group responsible for the document(s) they are
+ correctly reflected in subsequent drafts of the technical report. An editor <em class="rfc2119">must</em> be a
+ participant, per <a href="#group-participation">section 5.2.1</a> in the Group responsible for the document(s) they are
editing. </p>
<p>The Team is <em class="rfc2119">not required</em> to publish a Technical Report that does not conform to the Team's
<a href="https://www.w3.org/Guide/pubrules">Publication Rules</a> [<a href="#ref-pubrules">PUB31</a>](e.g., for
@@ -1811,22 +1895,24 @@
of the Working Group (for example through notices posted to
<a href="mailto:public-review-announce@w3.org">public-review-announce@w3.org</a>) and were able to actually perform
reviews of and provide comments on the specification. A second objective is to encourage groups to request reviews
- early enough that comments and suggested changes may still be reasonably incorporated in response to the review. Before
+ early enough that comments and suggested changes can still be reasonably incorporated in response to the review. Before
approving transitions, the Director will consider who has been explicitly offered a reasonable opportunity to review the
document, who has provided comments, the record of requests to and responses from reviewers, especially
<a href="https://www.w3.org/Guide/Charter.html#horizontal-review">W3C Horizontal Groups</a> and groups identified as
dependencies in the charter or identified as <a href="https://www.w3.org/2001/11/StdLiaison.html">liaisons</a>
[<a href="#ref-liaison-list">PUB29</a>], and seek evidence of clear communication to the general public about appropriate
times and which content to review and whether such reviews actually occurred. </p>
+
<p>For example, inviting review of new or significantly revised sections published in Working Drafts, and tracking those
- comments and the Working Group's responses, is generally a good practice which would often be considered positive evidence
- of wide review. Working Groups <em class="rfc2119">should</em> announce to other W3C Working Groups as well as the
- general public, especially those affected by this specification, a proposal to enter
+ comments and the Working Group's responses, is generally a good practice which would often be considered
+ positive evidence of wide review. Working Groups <em class="rfc2119">should</em> announce to other W3C Working Groups
+ as well as the general public, especially those affected by this specification, a proposal to enter
<a href="#last-call">Candidate Recommendation</a> (for example in approximately four weeks). By contrast a
generic statement in a document requesting review at any time is likely not to be considered as sufficient evidence
that the group has solicited wide review. </p>
+
<p>A Working Group could present evidence that wide review has been received, irrespective of solicitation. But it is
- important to note that receiving many detailed reviews is not necessarily the same as wide review, since they may only
+ important to note that receiving many detailed reviews is not necessarily the same as wide review, since they might only
represent comment from a small segment of the relevant stakeholder community.</p>
<h4 id="implementation-experience">6.2.4 Implementation Experience</h4>
@@ -1845,7 +1931,7 @@
</ul>
<p>Planning and accomplishing a demonstration of (interoperable) implementations can be very time consuming. Groups are
often able to work more effectively if they plan how they will demonstrate interoperable implementations early in the
- development process; for example, they may wish to develop tests in concert with implementation efforts.</p>
+ development process; for example, developing tests in concert with implementation efforts.</p>
<h4 id="correction-classes">6.2.5 Classes of Changes</h4>
@@ -2252,15 +2338,18 @@
the scope of a Working Group charter generally allows time for work after publication of a Recommendation.
In this Process Document, the term "erratum" (plural "errata") refers to any error that can be resolved by one or more
changes in classes 1-3 of section <a href="#correction-classes">7.2.5 Classes of Changes</a>.</p>
+
<p>Working Groups <em class="rfc2119">must</em> keep a record as errors are reported by readers and implementers.
Such error reports <em class="rfc2119">should</em> be processed no less frequently than quarterly. Readers of the
Recommendation <em class="rfc2119">should</em>
be able easily to find and see the errata that apply to that specific Recommendation.</p>
- <p> Working Groups may decide how to document errata. The best practice is a document that identifies itself as based on the
- Recommendation text and clearly identifies the errata and any proposed corrections; other approaches include various forms
- of an errata page, possibly auto-generated from a database.</p>
- <p>An erratum is resolved by an informative, "proposed" correction generated by the Working Group. A correction becomes part
- of the Recommendation by the process for Revising a Recommendation described in the next section.</p>
+
+ <p> Working Groups decide how to document errata. The best practice is a document that identifies itself as based on the
+ Recommendation text and clearly identifies the errata and any proposed corrections; other approaches include various
+ forms of an errata page, possibly auto-generated from a database.</p>
+
+ <p>An erratum is resolved by an informative, "proposed" correction generated by the Working Group. A correction
+ becomes part of the Recommendation by the process for Revising a Recommendation described in the next section.</p>
<h4 id="revised-rec">6.7.2 Revising a Recommendation</h4>
@@ -2319,13 +2408,13 @@
<h3 id="rec-rescind">6.9 Obsoleting or Rescinding a W3C Recommendation</h3>
- <p>It is possible W3C decides that a particular Recommendation should no longer be recommended for implementation.
- There are two designations for such resignations, chosen depending on how strongly W3C wishes to advise against
+ <p>It is possible that W3C decides that implementing a particular Recommendation is no longer recommended.
+ There are two designations for such specifications, chosen depending on how strongly W3C wishes to advise against
using the specification.</p>
- <p>W3C <em class="r4fc2119">may</em> obsolete a Recommendation, for example if the W3C Community decides that
+ <p>W3C <em class="rfc2119">may</em> obsolete a Recommendation, for example if the W3C Community decides that
the Recommendation no longer represents best practices, or is not adopted and is not apparently likely to be adopted.
- An Obsolete Recommendation <em class="r4fc2119">may</em> be restored to normal Recommendation,
+ An Obsolete Recommendation <em class="rfc2119">may</em> be restored to normal Recommendation,
for example because despite marking it Obsolete the specification is later more broadly adopted.</p>
<p>W3C <em class="rfc2119">may</em> rescind a Recommendation if W3C believes there is no reasonable prospect
@@ -2366,7 +2455,8 @@
<li>publish a rationale for the proposal</li>
<li>identify known dependencies and solicit review from all dependent Working Groups</li>
<li>solicit public review</li>
- <li>specify the deadline for review comments, which must be at least four weeks after the Director's announcement</li>
+ <li>specify the deadline for review comments, which <em class="rfc2119">must</em> be at least four weeks after
+ the Director's announcement</li>
</ul>
<p>and <em class="rfc2119">should</em></p>
@@ -2491,8 +2581,8 @@
Advisory Committee representatives to respond with a statement of support (yes, no, or abstain) and comments, as desired.
The archive of these comments <em class="rfc2119">must</em> be Member-visible. If, within
<span class="time-interval">one week</span> of the Team's announcement, 5% or more of the Advisory Committee support the
- appeal request, the Team <em class="rfc2119">must</em> organize an appeal vote asking the Advisory Committee to approve or
- reject the decision.
+ appeal request, the Team <em class="rfc2119">must</em> organize an appeal vote asking the Advisory Committee to
+ approve or reject the decision.
<!-- Voting procedure to be determined --></p>
<h3 id="ACVotes">7.3 Advisory Committee Votes</h3>
@@ -2660,8 +2750,8 @@
paper, etc.) If the Submission request is acknowledged, these documents will be published by W3C and therefore
<em class="rfc2119">must</em> satisfy the Communication Team's
<a href="https://www.w3.org/Guide/pubrules">Publication Rules</a> [<a href="#ref-pubrules">PUB31</a>].
- Submitters may hold the copyright for the material contained in these documents, but when published by W3C, these
- documents <em class="rfc2119">must</em> be subject to the provisions of the
+ Submitters <em class="rfc2119">may</em> hold the copyright for the material contained in these documents, but when
+ published by W3C, these documents <em class="rfc2119">must</em> be subject to the provisions of the
<a href="https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-documents">W3C Document License</a>
[<a href="#ref-doc-license">PUB18</a>].</li>
</ul>